The Emotionally Compromised Effect
by TuesdayTerrible
Summary: He realizes, with great shame, that he has been emotionally compromised and with a 187 IQ he cant even formulate as to why. Shenny.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: My first BBT fanfic. I tend to favor angst. And Shenny. Speaking of which, Penny is a little OOC. But I think its worth it. Reviews are appreciated.

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The Emotionally Compromised Effect

He was a man with an eidetic memory, and yet he couldnt quite remember when this absurdity began. He could tell you however, that _this, her,_ had left him emotionally compromised and irreparably damaged.

.

She had taken a seat next to him instead of next to her boyfriend. It wasnt unusual other than the fact her boyfriend had been gone for the entirety of the summer and as social protocol dictates her seat should be by his side- and not his own. Still, as the movie played on,her hand found its way to his knee.

He did not like to be touched at all, the germs that were now resting on his pant legs now were in the thousands. And still he couldnt swallow the lump in his throat to express his distress. He no longer was able to watch the movie when he felt her thumb rub across his knee in slow purposeful circles. Her fingers spreading out along his inner thigh.

He closed his eyes and recited the formulas he cherished so dearly as he felt every slow deliberate touch making his way up his leg. But even the equations could not push his now straining erection aside. He watches through hazy eyes and a hammering heart as his room-mate, his bestfriend , her boyfriend moved to turn off the dvd player.

She retracts her hand, and he leaves before he has to watch her kiss him goodnight.

.

He avoids her like the plague, staring out his peephole for unnecessary lengths of time before he goes to leave his apartment. Its all moot however, because he runs into the two of _them _on the staircase.

She calls his name and it sounds so innocent he almost thinks that maybe he had imagined it, though he knows with all of his intellect he most certainly did not make such a juvenile mistake. Still, the causality of it makes him feel crazy.

_I cant be crazy_. He muses when they continue up the stairs. _My mother had me tested. _

_ ._

It happens again, exactly two weeks later just enough time for him to re-establish some sense of normalcy between the two of them. Just another time for two laundry nights, two halo nights, and multiple banters in which he corrects her and she baffles him.

It happens at the comic book store filled with the stereo-typical men who use the alternative universes to escape from this one. He feels at home as he flips through the single issues, it isnt until she calls for him does his spine tense just ever so slightly. He pauses mid flip before he gingerly pulls his hand away from the book and comes to her side in a few short strides.

"Can you reach the spiderman figurine up there?" She says batting her pretty lashes at him, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind an ear. "Nephew." she explains- though its not necessary information for the task at hand.

He thinks to tell her so, but just leans over her slightly to retrieve the item and get back to his own comics. Its not until he feels her hands press against his crotch does his fingers twitch on the figurine. His head swarms and he goes to jerk away from the task all together and once again he is betrayed by his body as he pushes into her manicured fingertips.

She smiles and whispers softly. "Spiderman?"

"Yes." he says clearing his throat as he removes the figurine down for her and she gratefully releases her hold. While she thanks him, he scans the room to see if anyone has seen, she just smiles wistfully and whispers ever so softly- that if it werent for his vulcan hearing he surely wouldnt have heard her.

"That a marker in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

.

She keeps him up at night and his head spins as to why shes touching him so intimately and why more so than anything was he responding so quickly? Why did soft little touches have to fuel such a desire that was non-existent when she wasnt around?

He presses his palms into his eyelids and wills his head and heart to stop pounding.

.

It's laundry night when she meets him down there dirty clothes basket at her side, perfect smile on her face.

He looks for the confident proud physicist he knows himself to be and comes up empty as he continues to fold his laundry.

"Penny." He says clearing his throat and just her name on his tongue makes him feel a clenching in his chest he isnt familiar with.

"Whats up buttercup?" She says as she shuts the washer and spins around to face him.

"The way you have been touching me lately is inappropriate considering you are still in a relationship with Leonard and I..." his voice tampered out as she closed the gap between them.

"I was merely conducting a scientific experiment for Amy's benefit." Penny says grinning like the Cheshire cat- wide and yet not quite meeting her eyes. "It seems you can only be aroused Dr. Sheldon Cooper in public places."

"T-that isnt true I..." he stuttered wanting so desperately to prove her wrong, however the words _its only you _would not- could not come and so he did the only thing he could really do out of his element. He closed his mouth.

The air between them was so tense even he wasnt oblivious to it. He left before he had finished folding his laundry.

.

Sure enough, Amy attempts to engage him discreetly amongst their friends.

Sure enough, Amy fails.

He finds another emotion find its way up his throat and he has to excuse himself from Thai food. He does not come out the rest of the night and terminates his relationship agreement with Amy Farrah Fowler in the morning.

.

He listens as Leonard tells him about the progression of their relationship, and how hes certain its going to work this time- boasting with a confidence Sheldon no longer feels. He cant force himself to accumulate his daily fiber intake along with the rest of his meals.

He watches her kiss Leonard, her lips bruised from their coitus and he feels his stomach ache to the point he doubles over and knocks his whiteboard onto the floor, smearing equations and dreams alike.

Its not much longer after that he puts on his bus pants and travels to the hospital hoping desperately for a way to alleviate the pain in his gut. They diagnose him with "stress ulcer" and insist he take it easy.

.

He realizes, with great shame, that he has been emotionally compromised and with a 187 IQ he cant even formulate as to why.


	2. Chapter 2

Please allow me to say the response to this story has been incredible. I have received a plethora of reviews, majority positive and it has warmed my heart and touched me dearly. Especially since I was half expecting this to be a flop. I want to hug each and every one of you. Your words mean the world.

I have to forewarn you however, if this story does continue - im afraid the rating may indeed have to change. But we'll cross that bridge if and when we get to it.

Anyway, enough with my senseless blather. Enjoy some Penny POV.

-TTerrible

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She wasnt intentionally trying to be malicious though she finds she gets a bit of sadistic pleasure from making him human, from making him male, from stirring things in him she was sure didnt exist.

She takes a swig of her vodka, running a hand through messy blonde hair. He wasnt suppose to plague her. She was just suppose to entice him, prep him for her friend- never had she thought it would back fire so badly. She never thought she would be so hung up on it.

Amy couldnt get him 'excited' alone, so the two of them had concocted that maybe Dr. Cooper was secretly a kink and in an effort not to damage Amy's relationship with Sheldon- Penny had decided she would test the theory a handful of times before Amy did. It was fullproof.

Or so she thought.

She sees him pulling back and away into himself to the point now if her arm bumps his he flinches with something she cant put a name too. She's sure he would have one though. He has words for everything... that is.. until he doesnt.

She takes another swig of her bottle and wonders how something she has partaken in for the majority of her life (a warm bed, strange men) can elicit these type of feelings in her. It was just a touch.

Its takes her to the end of her bottle before she realizes it wasnt about a touch, it was about who she touched.

A strangled sound snakes out of her lips, and she pinches the bridge of her nose to keep the tears from leaking out.

.

She touches herself late at night- desperate to quell the fire between the legs. She has engaged in sex more times in the last week with Leonard in hopes to extinguish the flames but no avail. He's not the one shes thinking about, and no matter how much effort and time he invests in foreplay- his fingers are not the long and nimble fingers of her favorite whack-a-doodle Doctor.

She figures its time to end things when she can no longer control whose name she mutters under her breath.

She ends things with Leonard abruptly and locks herself deeply into her apartment. She hopes to feel free, liberated for doing the right thing while her heart runs rampant with chaos. She does not.

.

The knocks on her door come at exactly eleven like clockwork, in rounds of three. The waves crashing in her head makes her want to scream at the door and she realizes she doesnt have the energy nor the will to dismiss the person at the opposite end of the door.

She thrusts herself from her bed and the room spins with a sickening type of agony, it almost brings her to her knees, and by no lack of trying- she makes it to the door.

He stares at her awkwardly before moving past her and into her kitchen.

She moves to question him but his blue eyes silence her before she can even open her mouth and with a groan she lets herself collapse onto her couch. He moves to bring her a beverage and tylenol besides settling into the chair in his "spot" in her chaotic apartment.

She thanks him downing the water and tylenol before moving to a sitting position, clearing her throat "So whats up?"

His face twitches and his gaze meets the floor.

"You have awakened things in me I do not understand." He said his voice soft and cautious, like crossing unknown territory in fear of discovering quick sand.

She watched his frame and braced herself for the reprimand that was sure to come. Her body aching- but not just from her hangover, an ache that went from her head, to her clit, to her heart. An ache she was no need prepared to deal with. "Sheldon I-"

He cuts her off with a simple "I wish to understand them." before he exits her apartment without a goodbye, good day, or see you later.

.

Amy is none to pleased to find the distress that is circulating between Leonard, her ex, and her bestie. While she doesnt know she can only speculate as to the feelings that are there and being repressed.

She thinks to tell Penny one night as she watches her best friends lips caress another alcoholic beverage that will surely make her that one to many and her head buried in the toilet.

She finds that she can not stop herself and watches as the harsh liquid travels down her friends throat.

After all, she shouldnt get to steal her happily ever after and not have to suffer for it.

She'll figure it out eventually.

.

No matter how much or how often she drinks- she can not get the feel of him out of her hand.

.

He comes to her at work wearing his bus pants and tired eyes, a hand draped protectively over his abdomen. She puts on her work smile and leans across the bar.

"What'll be Tex, ginger-ale for an aching tummy?" her voice is lighthearted but she cant even deny the concern in her voice.

He stares at her and smiles weakly. "It seems I have been experiencing some inner turmoil that has manifested physically into what those incompetent fools at the hospital insist is nothing more than a stomach ulcer." He paused as he watched the confusion settle on his face. "I need to partake in an alcoholic beverage."

She stares at him worriedly as she pours him a long isand ice tea. He drinks two more before he leans across the bar, caresses the back of her neck and forces her into a kiss that is so precise and calculated she wonders how shes able to stand.

.

Its not until he stumbles out of the Cheesecake Factory that she's able to admit to herself that perhaps somewhere between all the banter, soft kitty's, and all the other causalities that made them...well them, she had fallen in love with a beautiful mind. It wasnt a baser urge manifestation..the physicality of their desire was a catalyst to their feelings leaving them both exposed and vulnerable.

.

She wasnt sure if she could deal with it any better than he could. However, she was more than willing to try.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you guys for your continued support. I hope you continue to enjoy this drabblesque fic.

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She's waiting for him in the laundry room when he enters at 8:15. He stops as soon as he sees her blonde hair swung up in a high ponytail, and almost turns full circle. Hes not ready for this. Hes not ready for her.

He sucks in a breath when she calls his name. _Drats. _

And continues into the laundry room uncertainly. She has a look in her eyes he doesnt understand- a knowing one as she crosses the space between them. He can feel her breath lingering along his cheek, her chest mere inches away from his.

"Penny." he whispers and he doesnt like how his voice sounds. He should not be feeling like this. He should not be compromised at her- or anyone elses hands. And still, somehow, its all he ever wanted.

"Shhh" she says laying a quiet finger against his lips. "Dont talk."

His body is on edge as she leans forward and presses her lips against his, and its as if hes being electrocuted. The force of her is staggering and he finds his hands gripping perhaps a little to roughly into her hips in hopes to keep himself grounded.

He finds himself unsure when he feels her tongue pushing softly against his lips and though the idea makes him queasy- hes not sure how to process the feeling so he allows her to guide him through the motions of the kiss.

He tries to analyze it, but finds himself to 'in the moment.' His pants growing increasingly tighter with each twist of the tongue.

She pulls back, a smile on her face and a whisper in her voice. "Im yours, if you want me."

And she leaves in a blonde chaotic whirl.

.

He's not sure why the notion of her departure knocks the air from his chest. But he finds himself sitting (yes! Sitting! how unsanitary!) on the laundry room floor head in his hands. He's grounded and he has a desire to fly that he's never had before. It makes his stomach lurch and he wonders how at 30years old he has never experienced this until now. He has no idea what to do, and for the first time ever Sheldon Cooper does not feel intelligent. He feels human.

.

His hands bursts to flames when he touches her for the first time. His fingerprints brush her lips and down her neck and he feels her tremble beneath his touch. It is empowering. It is terrifying.

&& god does she feel glorious.

His fingers brush the curve of her breast and he has the urge to be forceful, to enclose his hand around her perfect globe and he swallows hard and retracts his hand shyly. His face turning red as he turns his attention to anything but her.

"It's okay." she coos. Her eyes wide, the arousal rolling off of her in waves. "Its okay."

Her arms wrap around his waist and he runs his long fingers through her blonde locks and feels a security, he cant quite understand. She knows him. She gets it. Surely, if there was a god- he made Penny for him.

Her lips press against his and he's positive this is what spontaneous combustion feels like.

.

Leonard corners him at work- though his attention is directed to his white board and it takes him a minute to understand he is being verbally attacked on something that isnt work related. It doesnt take him long to realize that this indeed is about Penny.

His inability to lie has put him in a difficult situation and hes unable to express the emotions he has for Penny to Leonard so he finds himself staring at him helplessly.

Leonard is his best friend, and he loves him dearly and feels the tightness coiling in his gut knowing that his suspisions are correct and all he can do is stare at him like a mindless idiot. He wishes there was a formula for this a +b = c over...

"Just admit that you like her." He licks his lips decisivly.

"Like Leonard does not begin to express how I feel about Penny." He cant say that he loves her, but he most certainly can not allow the emotions he feel to be diminished so greatly.

Leonard departs his room, and Sheldon ends up walking home (he didnt bring his bus pants obviously)

.

Penny's furious when she sees Sheldon and she bites on her lower lip as he lowers himself to her couch. As much as she would love to lay Leonard out and fix this- she also understands that maybe, just maybe this cant be fixed.

She takes a seat next to him, and frowns running a finger through his short dark hair.

"This...what we have...this is hurting you isnt it?" She says softly, and eyes are wide with an emotion, he understands is distress and yet he knows no means as to how to fix it.

"yes." he breathes softly as he thinks of the intensity of which he feels when he touches her, the intensity in which Leonard has degraded him, the intensity of all of it that has his stomach in turmoil more often than not.

"I understand." She says softly her hand dropping to give his a gentle squeeze. "Sheldon...I can fix this for you." She says "but I need you to do something for me first."

.

They make love.

Sheldon takes his time and fumbles but touches and caresses and catalogs her every response. He is a diligent and thorough lover bringing her to completion multiple times and she returns the favor before exhausted all asleep.

He delights in the smell of her skin, and the warmth of her body when he wakes up and somehow the stress he was harboring seems less.

She sees him off with a sad smile and he wonders if somehow he's displeased her.

"Penny, were you unsatisfied with our coitus?"

The smile continues but it never goes to her Nebraskan green eyes. "It was wonderful, sweetie. I couldnt ask for a better lover."

He nods satisfied, before turning out the door and allowing her to shut it behind him.

He thinks he hears her slide down her door as he walks across the hall but he does not hear her the tears that follow suit as he shuts the door to his and Leonards apartment.

.

He doesn't see her the next day. Or the day after that. When she isnt there at the Cheesecake factory on Tuesday, he goes over to her apartment wracked with nerves.

He uses his emergency key to get in. He's not sure what to expect but surely this wasnt it.

He isnt greeted by Penny, but by numerously large labeled boxes holding Penny's things.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: There will be one more after this. Thank you all for your continued support. Please enjoy.

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She would do anything for him.

It really was that simple. She just hadnt exactly planned for this amount of pain.

She had packed her boxes throwing miscellaneous things in random boxes occasionally sipping from her grade A vodka. It wasnt until her apartment was nearly empty and she went to take another sip did it hit her.

She was giving up everything leaving Sheldon behind. She was giving up her dreams. Her friends. Her home. She was giving up him. She was giving up on soft kitty, and laundry night and paint ball matches. She was giving up on everything she wanted to believe in.

Her fingers clutched the kitchen counter as they dumped the remaining alcohol down the kitchen sink. The kind of loss she was suffering wasnt the kind she wanted to down away with alcohol. She wanted to feel every painful throb, every agonizing staggering ache. She could only hope that if she faced it head strong would she only than ever be able to over come it.

But without the alcohol to dull the pain she is rendered useless to the tasks at hand. She collapses into the floor wishing it to swallow her up as tears threaten to choke the life from her.

He was toxic for her too. She thought with a strangled teary smile, and picks up the phone.

.

Dear Sheldon,

I know this will disrupt your routine...my leaving. Im sorry for the stress that will cause you. But dont look for me. Its for the best. You wont find me MoonPie. I promise.

Ill miss you

Penny

.

He looks for her regardless as if the note were a challenge and not a promise. He looks for her confident in his abilities and is ensured by his desires.

He spends hours on his computer and takes up walking after dinner to see if she's somewhere looming the streets of Pasadena. He takes up paying for her apartment to assure no one else can move in. He adjusts his whole schedule to find Penny and day after day the results remain the same...in conclusive.

"Sheldon. It time to let go. I miss Penny too but this is ridiculous youve been at it for two months now..." Leonards voice is quiet as Sheldons fingers on the keyboard slow but do not stop.

"Youre acting crazy!" Howard exclaims.

"...Im not crazy my mother..."

"had you tested., we know we know, but come on Sheldon. We are al feeling a bit betrayed by Penny leaving but its time to get out of the sad wagon and ya know, live ya life. Even Leonard's taking it better than you."

"Leonard and Penny broke up." Sheldon said quietly, his voice taking a particular quiver that didnt go unmissed by the microbiologist or the other physicist in the living room.

"Yea but he WAS with her." Howard reminded none to gently, when Bernadette softly grabbed his arm silencing him.

Sheldons frame shook just slightly from a place he couldnt control. He wondered briefly if he was dying as the tremors in his left hand became more violent. He was alarmed to find a small piece of him was not appalled at the idea.

"Im going to bed." He announces rising to a shaky stand and dissapearing into his room.

For once, Sheldons lack of response said so much more than any explanation he could have gave them.

"He loves her doesnt he?" Amy says breaking the silence once they all hear Sheldons door close.

It is Leonard who answers her, just as softly. "Ya...I think he does."

.

She was certain with time there would be release, the pain would decrease. Fade away. It would be inevitable- time heals all wounds, blah, blah, blah. It was all lies. She realizes as she tucks her pencil behind her ear.

She finds him on the tv whenever she sees Star Trek. She sees him everytime she eats spaghetti. She hears him every time she goes to the laundromat. And she feels his large confident hands on her every time she lays down in those same sheets from that night.

She never went far, staying in California against her better judgment. But she knew the saying, keep your friends close, your enemies closer. And though her feelings didnt match the thoughts, the point she was hoping to make was the same.

Erasing herself from their lives, allowing his relationship with his friends to return to normal. To allow him the peace of his routine. To allow his breathing to return to normal and his stomach to unclench. It was the only thing that held her resolve.

She was bearing the pain so he didnt have too. She was Nebraskan strong. She could handle it.

Yet somehow, more times than not, she couldnt function well. She neglected her sleep staring at the ceiling and skipped more meals than she ate.

She whispers his name in her sleep sometimes, and her new roommate from her new job, frowns with concern. When she asks about him, Penny just smiles sadly and tells her he's a beautiful mind. She doesnt know what that means, and somehow her heart still breaks for her.

.

Sheldon literally has to force his body to obey him, his limbs feel like lead as he struggles to get out of bed. A task that took moments has been reduced to a fifteen minute struggle that whenever he put himself in a sitting position didnt seem much like a victory.

His stomach hurts and while he doesnt by any means like the pain, he is satisfied with its distraction.

He sees her in his kitchen making waffles. He sees her disrupting his routine, and disrupting it again with her absence. Her spot, next to his, is usually vacant as anyone elses proximity for extended periods both him. He feels her absence heavily on laundry night and he cant bring himself to play paintball on designated games with the other departments.

His friends try to accommodate him, provide distractions and offer suggestions. His friends try to give him space- but its all in vain. They were all Pennys friends too, and therefore they are to a reminder of her departure.

He knows he must not be the only one in distress. But he cant find the ability to offer anyone a hot beverage anymore than he can bare to accept one.

He cries sometimes in his sleep. He knows only from the fact that his cheeks are damp and cold from moisture and his heart if even for a moment feels a heartbeat lighter.

And somehow, Leonard cant look him in the eyes anymore.

He cant put the two and two together.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: This is in fact the last little chapter of my drabble-esque fic. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. These two...they were fun to twist in my angsty little ways. But now its over and its time to possibly slap a bandaid on the wounds I have caused. Thank all of you for your cont. support and sticking with this story. Your words really are empowering. Never doubt the strength a single review can cause. Now, On with the story.

* * *

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It was the group that tore them apart.  
It was the group that needed to put them together.

.

It's raining in the cafe just on the outskirts of her old apartment where she sits leaching wifi. She's close enough to Sheldon she could run there if she wanted too. So close, and yet so far away. She smiles running a tired hand through her blonde tresses. God does she miss him and her obscure passwords- they always made her put a smile on her face, even if they were a vain attempt to keep her out- it was he himself who always let her in.

He plagued her thoughts as she youtubed "Missing you". She was hoping to find a song that could match her heartache perfectly, merely background noise to the pain that crushed her skull.

She hadn't expected to find this. She watched through tear-stained eyes as she clicked on the link- addressed to her.

.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Raj whispers, the video- camera trembling ever so slightly.

"What other choice do we have?" Leonard whispers back as he slowly pushes open Sheldons bedroom and flinches to the side incase Sheldon should reprimand him for entering his room without knocking.

A flash of howards shoulder, a shaky breath, and silence. Sheldon Cooper doesnt bother to glare or even acknowledge the disturbance with anything other than indifference. His eyes are glazed over and he is crumpled over on his side. On his walls he has written in sharpie thousands of formulas over every square inch of his wall, only the wall with his window on it.

"Sheldon" Howard's voice comes from behind the camera, cautious but with more force than anything Raj or Leonard could muster.

He rolls over agitation in his slumped form.

"It looks like...youve come up with another variable to string theory that may help..." Howard cleared his throat as Leonard jumped in.

"that may very well be the closest thing anyones coming to proving it!"

Sheldon stares at Leonard not bothering to get off the bed, merely raise an eyebrow at him.

"You expected me not too?"

"Sheldon..." It was Raj who spoke this time. "You should be estatic this could very well..."

"Yes, yes Nobel prize." Sheldon said eyes far away. "Thats not what I dream about anymore. Now if you all excuse me...Im trying to sleep."

.

Penny stared as the video played off, the formulas on Sheldons wall. Sheldons wall, that meant nothing to her but were so precious to him- he had done it. He had accomplished so much, but that spark never once lit up his eyes. He merely laid there unimpressed with himself uneager to share it, uninterested in obtaining his Nobel.

Her hand ghosted across the screen as Leonards face invaded her computer, as he took a seat in Sheldons computer chair and faced the laptop as if he were right there in the cafe with her. She looked away ashamed, as his voice filled her ears.

.

Leonard set down in Sheldons computer chair taking a deep breath as he started recording from the small laptop.

"Penny." He said clearing his voice hoping to keep the pain it caused him out of it. "We all miss you and we're not upset about why you left. We...I think I get it now. I think..."

He paused looking down at his hands folded down in his lap. He chucked slightly before looking back up to the computer, searching for her instead of his curly blackhaired pained expresssion.

"I think you love him too. And if...if you needed my blessing, you have it. He has it. Just...come okay? I...Im not mad anymore and I dont think anyone else is either. So. Come home."

The camera was met with his palm.

.

She knew she looked a mess, tears staining her cheeks as she put her hand over her mouth to choke back a sob. She didnt want to cause a scene and yet here she was a sob away from a scream away from a tantrum. She tried to collect herself as she wiped her eyes vigorously as she watched one by one of them took a seat.

.

Howard and Raj sat uncomfortably close in the computer chair as they looked from eachother to the computer awkwardly.

"Ill start." Howard said rubbing his hands against his legs. "I know we arent particularly close and that I can be a little sleazy at times..."

"A little" Raj muttered as Howard elbowed him before staring back to the computer screen.

"Penny, what Im trying to tell you is that we miss you. All of us. Particularly Sheldon he."

"Hes gone bat crap crazy Penny! Please come home! I miss my partner in whom I watch Sex in the city with! " Raj interrupted, eyes wide and looking sheepish as Howard glared at him.

"Well...Raj is right about one thing. Sheldon has gone bat crap crazy. But...its cause he misses you ya know. Id do the same thing if Bernadette were to..."

.

Bernadette went. Amy went. And each personal 'come home' hit Penny like a book to the point she put her head down and was just listening to each heartbreaking word encouraging hopeful missing you word as if they were sitting right around her at the cafe.

It wasnt until she heard a voice that shocked her, and caused her head to stare at her computer screen with clear eyes despite being fogged by chills. It was him.

.

Sheldon stood at the computer. "These fools were dumb enough to think I wouldnt know what they were doing." He growled at the camera, before straightening his posture as he stared at the little camera.

"The odds of this finding you are extremely low Penny. I knew that as they tried to construe this number for my 'psychological well-being' to get you back home the odds were slim to none. In fact they are 3.2 in one thousand that you find this. 3.2. Those are not good odds Penny."

He runs his fingers through his hair and leans his elbows on the desk, getting very close to the camera.

" They know. I did not tell them. But they know. And I can and will live my life with this chasm you left in me Penny. I will live and I will suffer every day that I do. I will live if solely to find you and when I do..." his voice trailed off.

He took a deep breath before sitting up.

"I will not beg you to come home but I sincerely, with all of my heart, wish you would."

.

She was out of the coffee shop, her laptop left disregarded on the table as she ran with all of her might around the corner, across the street and right into her old apartment building.

.

She was winded by the time she had reached 4A, not pausing to catch her breath as she slammed open the door to 4A. She nearly stumbled in, her blonde hair pooling in her face as she struggled to get enough of the air back into her lungs.

They all looked at her frozen all unable to move, unable to blink, unable to breathe as they looked up from their containers of Thai food.

All except Sheldon who had risen to a shakey stand, in front of his spot.

It had taken literally four strides for him to cross over everyone in his way and develop Penny into his arms. She sank down to her knees as she clutched at him, pulling him down with her tears staining his super man t-shirt as he clutched her arms desperatly. His well cute nails leaving tiny moons into her forearms.

Its not until much later does she realize he's been crying too, holding her as if she may very well disappear.

"I love you." she muttered against his chest, listening to his hearts accelerated heartbeat.

His response was in Klingon, but she didnt have to be a nerd to know what he had said.

.

The End.


End file.
